1. Prof. Dr./ Yomn El Hamaky Professor of Economics Faculty of Commerce – Ain Shams University Can Arab Women be an engine of growth?

2. Introduction 2 Economic Participation of women has gained significant importance as a vital contributor to Economic growth worldwide. Applied studies have proved that taking gender perspective in policy making can play vital role to achieve that. Despite that Arab Countries have achieved significant progress to upgrade their Economies, They are not participating effectively in world’s production mainly because of lack of diversification in their economies which reflect inefficiency of using resources.

3. 3 Human resources are on top of unexploited assets. One of the most important reason behind that is the weak economic role of women. The aim of this presentation is to clarify the main reasons behind that as well as shedding light on the potentials for more participation so that this can make Arab Women an engine of growth.

4. Part I. Economic Participation of women worldwide 4

5. Some Facts about Economic Participation of women worldwide Worldwide, outside of the agricultural sector, in both developed and developing countries, women are still averaging slightly less than 78% of the wages given to men for the same work, a gap which refuses to close in even the most developed countries.(UNIFEM, 2000) Internationally, women are most often concentrated in “feminized” professions, such as nursing and teaching, office work, care of the elderly and disabled—termed “horizontal occupational segregation”—where they tend to remain in lower job categories than men. 5

6. Figure (1): Man and Women labor force participation (%) worldwide comparison (years 2009 & 1980) Source: World development indicators, 2011. Lowest Participation worldwide 6

7. Generally: Women all over the world appear to be concentrated in low-productivity jobs: 1. Small farms 2. Unpaid family works 3. Informal sector Women rarely rise to positions of power in the labor market. Employment Segregation by Gender 7

8. What do we mean by employment segregation by gender? Employment segregation by gender refers to differences in the kind of jobs men and women do. (World Bank, 2012). Segregation results from a combination of gender- differentiated constraints in access to specific economic opportunities (including discrimination) and sorting based on gender-based preferences. 8

9. Employment segregation by gender: Worldwide facts 1. Women are more likely than men to work in agriculture (37 % of all employed women, against 33 % of all employed men) and in services (47 % of all employed women, against 40 % of all employed men). The opposite is true for manufacturing. (ILO, 2010) 2. Women also are overrepresented among unpaid and wage workers and in the informal sector. Women account for about 40 % of the total global workforce, but 58 % of all unpaid work, 44 % of wage employment, and 50 percent of informal employment. (ILO, 2010) 9

10. Employment segregation by gender: Worldwide facts 3. Globally, women represent more than 50 percent of employment in communal services (public administration, education, health, and other social services) and among professionals (including teachers and nurses), clerical workers, and sales and service employees. (ILO, 2010) 4. They also represent more than 40 percent of employment—equivalent to the female share of total employment—in the retail and restaurant sectors and among agricultural workers. (ILO, 2010; Anker, Melkas, and Korten, 2003). 10

11. But, working women are not worse than men: In fact, women are as efficient as men in production when given access to the same inputs—and that, when provided with the same amount of resources, female farmers and entrepreneurs can be as productive as their male counterparts. (Goldstein and Udry, 2008) 11

12. Part II. Economic participation of Arabic Women 12

13. Introduction: Productivity by Economic Sectors in the Arab Region Oil resources have delayed the normal process of economic transformation in the Arab region. This led to retarded productive capacities and to a more rudimentary economic structure. Figure (2) shows that Services and manufacturing are the main contributors to the expansion in value-added for all developing countries, with 2.3 and 1.1% respectively. In the Arab region, 1.7% of growth of value-added comes from services and only 0.4% from manufacturing. Mining, on the other hand, added 1.3% to growth in the Arab Region, compared to only 0.3% in developing countries as a whole. Agriculture makes a considerably small contribution to growth in the Arab region of roughly one-fifth of one percentage points, compared to one quarter percentage point in the larger group of developing countries. 13

14. Figure (2): Sectoral composition of growth rate of value-added for the Arab Countries, & Developing Countries 1970-2009 Source: UN, Arab Development Challenges Report 2011 - Arab Countries -- Developing Countries - 14

15. Introduction: Employment and productivity in the Arab Region Figure (3): Average employment and output shares of the Arab region including GCC countries (A) and without GCC countries (B), 1991-2004 Source: UN, Arab Development Challenges Report 2011 15

16. Source: UN, Arab Development Challenges Report 2011 Introduction: Employment and productivity in the Arab Region 16

17. Introduction: Employment and productivity in the Arab Region Incomplete economic transformation of the Arab region and oil- led patterns of development have created a situation in which high productivity jobs have been scarce. Figure (3) shows that even though the economies of non-GCC countries are less dominated by oil and gas, mining and utilities still account for 31% of GDP while only providing jobs for 1% of the population. At the same time, manufacturing remains very much marginal, only contributing 10% of GDP and employing 8% of the workforce. One tragedy is the limited contribution of agriculture (12%) to GDP while the sector continues to employ around 30% of the population. This reflects the technological stagnation of the sector, which leads to a relative decline of the productivity per person of the sector. 17

18. Introduction: Employment and productivity in the Arab Region Many Arab countries are increasingly turning into import- oriented and service-based economies, with services accounting for the highest share of GDP in the region, excluding GCC (42%) and the major share of employment at 52%. The types of services found in Arab countries fall at the low end of the value chain, contribute little to local knowledge development and lock countries into inferior positions in global markets. This trend, which has been at the expense of Arab agriculture and industrial production, is therefore of concern. 18

19. Introduction Labour market statistics for the Arab Region Employment by sector varies by country. Some gulf oil exporter countries have a small primary sector and a relatively large public administration sector, while in North African countries the situation is reversed. Women’s unemployment rates are significantly higher in most of the countries, in some cases up to three times as high. The region reports some of the highest youth unemployment rates in the world. Here too, sharp differences exist by sex as unemployment rates among young women are, in some countries, two to three times higher than among young men, and five to nine times higher than for the total (youth + adults) unemployed population. 19

20. Figure (4): Labour force participation rates, 2008 Source: Source: ILO, Trends Econometric Models, September 2009 Economic participation of women has been progressively increasing in the region although it remains noticeably low compared to all other regions in the world. Women’s labour force participation is positively associated with rising education levels. 20

21. Figure (5): Employment shares by sector for the Arab Region - 2008 Source: ILO, Trends Econometric Models, September 2009 21

22. Figure (6): Employment shares by status for the Arab Region - 2008 Source: ILO, Trends Econometric Models, September 2009 22

23. Introduction Economic Diversification in Arab Economies The economies of the Arab countries lack diversity, a situation which has remained unchanged since the early 1990s. Oil exports are still the main economic engine of the region. (UNDP, 2009) The structural fragility of Arab economies: Oil-led growth has created weak structural foundations in Arab economies. Many Arab countries are turning into increasingly import oriented and service based economies. The types of services found in Arab countries fall at the low end of the value adding chain, contribute little to local knowledge development, and lock countries into inferior positions in global markets. This trend, which has been at the expense of Arab agriculture, manufacturing and industrial production, is therefore of concern. (UNDP, 2009) 23

24. Introduction Economic Diversification in Arab Economies Key Industries in Arab Region Arab Oil-rich countries: Mainly Oil & Fuel Products Arab Oil – Poor Countries: Textile and clothing, Some machinery and equipment, Chemical industries Generally, the Arab region is the least industrialized region of the world, accounting for a meager 12% of the region’s GDP, the lowest amongst all developing regions. Moreover, this small share is heavily concentrated in the production of lower value added petroleum related, food, chemical and rubber and plastic products, which together make up nearly 60% of the total manufacturing output of the region (Figure7). Consequently, it is only able to trade in elementary goods. (UNDP, 2011) 24

25. Figure 6: Structure of manufacturing for oil-poor (A) and oil-rich (B) countries in 1990s and 2000s 25

26. The Economic participation of Arabic Women: Main Characteristics Arabic women work predominantly in the public sector (mostly in the education and health sectors). For the Arab Gulf countries, the vast majority of women employed are in the public sector. Arabic women work mainly in services: 49 % of women’s employment. Arabic women are more likely to be in “vulnerable employment” than men: vulnerable employment accounts for 39 % of women’s versus 33 % of men’s employment (for MENA countries) The female unemployment rate is much higher and the unemployment gender gap much wider in MENA than in other regions. The female unemployment rate is much higher in the 15–24 age group. 26

27. The Economic participation of Arabic Women: Main Characteristics Arab women suffer from employment segregation by gender: They are concentrated in low-productivity, low pay jobs. They mainly work in public sector, they are overrepresented among unpaid workers and in the informal sector, and they rarely rise to positions of power. In fact, a deep analysis of the progress of economic participation of Arab women shows that it is relatively weak compared to the potential capacity of Arab women. 27

28. Main Challenges: Arab women regional specificities 1. Lack of gender mainstreaming in economic planning for Arab countries. 2. Lack of gender – budget performance in using financial resources. 3. Poor efficiency of institutions, especially in Ministries and related organizations. 4. Low solidarity in promoting gender equity in the management of trade and development policies nationally. 5. Inefficiency of gender active labor market policies (Successful experiences: East Asian, Latin American, as well as the EU countries) 6. Lowest political female representation of women worldwide 28

29. Main Challenges: Arab women regional specificities 7. Lowest female formal labour activity worldwide 8. Very high female illiteracy rate: 50% of female adult population 9. Problematic traditions and beliefs that form taboos 10. Weak civil society and democratic institutions 11. Political instabilities that reflect upon better focusing upon democratic and social justice issues 12. challenging current global economic policies which seem to exacerbate social injustice and gender inequality 13. Inadequate sex-disaggregated data 14. Not enough qualitative studies 29

30. How To address challenges? The Role of Government & Private Sector Role of GovernmentRole of Private Sector Macroeconomic policies (fiscal policy, monetary policy, commercial policy) Demand for labor Market Labour Policy Specification on job training Gender-budget based performance capabilities of governmental institutions Demand for relative economic activities Gender planning & Gender awareness Clusters (Feeding industries, complementary industries, import substitution, export promotion) System of monitoring and evaluation (gender achievements) Corporate social responsibility to combat poverty through micro-credit Capability of government to cooperate with civil society Training 30

31. Conclusion & Recommendations 31

32. Conclusion The interaction of employment segregation with gender differences in time use and access to inputs and with market and institutional failures traps women in low-paying jobs and low- productivity businesses. Breaking out of this productivity trap thus requires interventions that lift time constraints, increase access to productive inputs among women, and correct market and institutional failures. (World Bank, 2012) 32

33. Recommendations Elimination of illiteracy and implementation of universal access to education is considered to be the first step to women economic empowerment. Encouraging initiatives of governments and civil society for women’s economic independence and political engagement. Establishing gender-responsive budgeting is essential for monitorable and transparent gender-oriented economic policy. Building the capacity of women in decision making positions and to facilitate dialogue on gender issues within economic and political structures. Removing impediments to women’s equal access in employment and trade Developing countries should take into account gender equity issues as part of their own trade and development solidarity policy towards developing countries. 33

34. Recommendations Enacting new laws to prevent gender discrimination. And Enforcing legal frameworks that already exist that support women’s rights. Establish gender-sensitive rules to guide employment practices of domestic and foreign firms, including global corporations, by building on existing multilateral instruments (such as the ILO conventions on fundamental workers’ rights and other conventions with regard to home-based work and part-time work). Increase gender-awareness in labor ministries by increasing financial resources and technical capacities in this area. Involvement of the civil society and the private sector in promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment. Enhancing capacity building programs for Arab women 34

35. Bibliography Anker, Richard, Helinä Melkas, and Ailsa Korten, 2003, “Gender-Based Occupational Segregation in the 1990s.” In Focus Programme on Promoting the Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. Working Paper Series 16, International Labour Office, Geneva. Blau and Kahn, 2000, “Blau, Francine D., and Laureance M. Kahn, 2000, “Gender Differences in Pay”. Journal of Economic Perspectives 14 (4): 75-99. Bruhn, Miriam. 2009. “Female-Owned Firms in Latin America. Characteristics, Performance, and Obstacles to Growth.” Policy Research Working Paper Series 5122, World Bank, Washington, DC. Goldstein, Markus, and Christopher Udry. 2008. “The Profits of Power: Land Rights and Agricultural Investment in Ghana.” Journal of Political Economy 116 (6): 981–1022. ILO, 2010, “Women in Labor Markets: Measuring Progress and Identifying Challenges”, ILO: Geneva. Marcoux, A. 1998. “The Feminization of Poverty: Claims, Facts and Data Needs.” Population and Development Review 24 (1): 131–139. New York: The Population Council. 35

36. Bibliography Mead, Donald C., and Carl Liedholm, 1998, “The Dynamics of Micro and Small Enterprises in Developing Countries”, World Development 26 (1): 61–74. UNIFEM, 2000. Progress of the World’s Women 2000. Biennial Report. Online at http://www.unpac.ca/wagegap4.html World development indicators, 2011. World Bank, 2012, “Gender Equality and Development”, the World Development Report 2012. World Economic Forum, 2005, “Women’s Empowerment: Measuring the Global Gender Gap”. UNDP, 2008, “Innovative Approaches to Promoting Women’s Economic Empowerment”. The UNDP, 2009, Arab Human Development Report 2009: Challenges to Human Security in the Arab Countries, New York, USA,2009,PP100-101 UNDP, 2010, “Hope in Hard Times: Women’s Empowerment and Human Development”, Human Development Research Paper: 2010/14. UNDP, 2011, Arab Development Challenges Background Paper 2011, “Is there Space for Development-Friendly Trade and Industrial Policies in Arab Countries?” World Bank Central Database (September 2008). 36

37. Thank You 37